Multiple Choice Questions

MATHEMATICS: GRADE 9

13
INTRODUCTION:

 To be used by teachers to help them to achieve their

goal in 2013.
 To be used by learners to improve their skills in
answering multiple choice questions.
 Viva Mathematics!

CONTENT:

 Section A Numbers & Number Operations: Page 3 – 10

 Section B Algebra: Page 11 – 13
 Section C Geometry: Page 14 – 19
 Section D Data Handling and Probability: Page 20 – 24
 Section E Memorandum: Page 25
SECTION A: NUMBERS AND NUMBER OPERATIONS

1 6 × 111 – 3 × 111 are equal to:

A 222 B 333 C 444 D 555 E 666

2 If the fractions are arranged from lowest to highest then the middle fraction is:
1 3
3
; 31%; 10
; 0,313; 0,303

A 1 B 0,313 C 3 D 31% E 0,303

3 10

3 “Zappy Stores” gives customers four points for every R75 spent. Thandeka earned 36
points. How much did Thandeka spend at Zappy Stores?

A R375 B R450 C R525 D R600 E R675

1 1 1
4 The number 3 × ÷ is equal to:
2 3

A 1 B 1 C 2 D 1 E 3
2 4 4

5 A three-digit number is divisible by 8, 12 and 30. The smallest possible number is:

A 108 B 120 C 240 D 360 E 480

6 The hundreds digit of the product 7777 × 9999 is:

A 2 B 3 C 4 D 5 E 6

7 Each child of the Dicks family has at least three sisters and at least one brother. The
minimum number of children in this family is:

A 4 B 5 C 6 D 7 E 8

8 The number of whole numbers that lie between 4² and 4³ is:

A 45 B 46 C 47 D 48 E 49

2
9 A watch keeps exact time, but it has only an hour hand. When the hour is 5 of the
distance between the 4 and the 5, the correct time is:

A 04:10 B 04:20 C 04:22 D 04:24 E 04:26

10 The sum of the smallest and the largest of the numbers 0, 5129; 0,9; 0,89 and 0,289
is:

A 1,189 B 0,8019 C 1,428 D 1,179 E 1,4129

11 The graph below represents the motion of a car. The graph shows us that the car is:

Distance

Time

A accelerating
B standing still
C travelling north-east
D travelling uphill
E travelling at a constant speed

302,476 ×0,040328
12 An approximate value for is:
5,96247

A 2 B 10 C 200 D 20 000 E 10 000

13 The last (units) digit of the number 333444 is:

A 1 B 5 C 3 D 7 E 9

14 4n + 1 + 4n + 2 equals
2n + 3 2n + 3 2n+2 2n+3 n+3
A 8 B 4 C 5×2 D 5×4 E 5×4

15 A motorist covers 177, 5 km in 2 hours. On the open road he averages 105 km/h and
40 km/h in urban areas. How many minutes did he take to pass through the urban
areas?

A 60 B 45 C 30 D 15 E 75

16 15% of R560 – 15% of R500 is:

A R13 B R12 C R11 D R10 E R9

3
17 If the numbers 9; 5; 1; 2; 3 are arrange in order of magnitude, then the middle
number is:
3
A 9 B 5 C 1 D 2 E 3

18 The six-digit number 4m61n2 is visible by both 11 and 4. The number of different
combinations of m and n that satisfy the above condition are:

A 4 B 6 C 8 D 10 E 12

19 The greatest number of Fridays that can occur in a 75 day period is:

A 15 B 13 C 12 D 11 E 9
20 The map shows roads joining Uniondale, George and Oudtshoorn via a T-junction at
T. At point A is a sign which shows that A is 34 km from T, 60 km from George and 68
km from Oudtshoorn via T. The distance, in kilometre, via T, from Oudtshoorn to
George is:

Oudtshoorn

Uniondale

George

A 148 B 122 C 60 D 78 E 52

21 On earth there are about 10 000 000 000 000 000 ants and 6 000 000 000 humans.
The ratio of humans to ants is approximately equal to:

A 60 000 to 1
B 1 666 667 to 1
C 1 to 6 000
D 1 to 1 666 667
E 1 to 60 000 000

22 It takes a car 11 minutes to travel a distance of 15 kilometres. If the car travels at an

average speed of x km/h, then:

A 50 ≤ x < 60
B 60 ≤ x < 70
C 80 ≤ x < 90
D 90 ≤ x < 100

23 Three different digits are used to make all possible three-digit numbers. Of the three
digits, one is 4 and one is three more than the other. If the sum of all such three-digit
numbers is 2886, then the three digits are:

A 1; 2; 4 B 4; 5; 7 C 3; 4; 6 D 2; 4; 5 E 4; 6; 9

24 A women walk for three hours without stopping, first up a hill at 3 km/h and then
back to her starting point at 6 km/h following the same route. What was the total
distance that she walked?

A 12,5 B 6 C 9 D 18 E 12
25 The compound interest on R10 000 at 20% per year calculated over a period of three
years is:

A 7 280 B 3640 C 364 D 728 E 17280

1600
26 The value of is:
0,1 ×0,1

A 0,4 B 4 C 40 D 400 E 4000

27 The number of times the hour hand and the minute hand of a clock from a right
angle with each other between 06:00 and 12:00 on the same day, is:

A 12 B 11 C 10 D 6 E 5

28 Mary was given a task of removing all multiples of 2 and 3 from a set of numbers
from 1 to 100. The number of the remaining numbers was:

A 17 B 33 C 18 D 34 E 26

29 A sewing machine stitches 0, 6 kilometres of cloth in one hour. The rate of stitching
in metres per minute is:

A O,01 B 0,1 C 1 D 10 E 100

30 The number 36 is 12% of:

A 250 B 300 C 350 D 400 E 450

31 The last digit of the number 3100 is:

A 0 B 1 C 3 D 7 E 9

32 A 24 hour digital watch shows 19 : 29 : 00 on its face. The first two digitals
indicate the hours, the second two digitals the minutes and the final two digitals the
seconds past midnight. The number of minutes before it shows 00 : 00 : 00 is:

A 271 B 529 C 431 D 291 E 531

2,001 ÷2,000
33 The closest answer to is:
1,999

A 1 B 1 C 1 D 1 E 3
4 2 8 8

3 2
34 Which of the following is false, if 5 = ?
𝑥

A 𝑥 5 B 𝑥 2 C 3 5 D 3 5 E 3x = 10
= = = =
2 3 5 3 2 𝑥 𝑥 2
 2
35 The value of 64𝑥 64𝑥 , if x ≠ 0, is:
8x 16x 8x² 32x² 32x²
A 8x B 8x C 8x D 8x E 64x

36 2,012 + 201, 2 are:

A 203,32 B 203,032 C 201,32 D 203,212 E 202,312

37 If the square roots of the natural numbers from 1 to 200 are calculated, the number
of whole numbers will be:

A 10 B 11 C 12 D 13 E 14

38 The number of positive even factors of 18 is:

A 0 B 1 C 2 D 3 E 6

39 John can dig the garden in 30 minutes, while Jack takes 20 minutes. If they work
together they will work:

A 10 min B 12 min C 15 min D 25 min E 50 min

40 Dan caught 40 fish in five days. Every day he caught 3 fish more than the previous
day. The number of fish he caught on the third day is:

A 8 B 9 C 10 D 11 E 14

41 When a certain whole number is divided by 9, the quotient is 6 with a remainder.

When the same number is divided by 4, the quotient is 15 with a remainder that is a
quarter of the previous remainder. The whole number is:

A 56 B 57 C 58 D 62 E 63

42 South America and Africa are drifting apart at 30 cm per century. The millimetres per
week that it is drifting apart are:

A 60 B 30 C 6 D 0,6 E 0,06

43 John says a number out loud; Jane doubles it but Rebecca multiplies it by 5 and then
subtracts 6. Both girls get the same result. The number John mentioned was:

A 5 B 4 C 3 D 2 E 1

44 The final amount if R450 is increased by 10% and then decrease by 15% is:

A R490 B R472,50 C R475 D R420,75 E R427,50

45 It takes one man 6 hours to paint a 3m by 12 m wall. The time that 4 men will paint a
6m by 12m wall, will be:

A 3 hours B 2 hours C 4 hours D 12hours E 24hours

46 3².5³ is equivalent to:

A 3.3.5.5.5 B 6.15 C 3.3.5.5 D 15.15 E 9.15

47 The chart shows the number of symphony tickets sold by 11:00 on Thursday.

Time Number of tickets

09:00 – 09:29 65
09:30 – 09:59 78
10:00 – 10:29 94
10:30 – 11:00 36

The total number of tickets sold before 10:30 is:

A 143 B 237 C 273 D 723 E 78

48 0,821 expressed as a percentage is:

A 0,821% B 8,21% C 82,1% D 821% E 8%

49 (7 + 3) × 4 are:

A (7 × 4) + (3 × 4)
B 7 + (3 × 4)
C 7 + (3 + 4)
D (7 + 4) × (3 + 4)
E (7 + 3) + 4

50 Martin bought a package of 15 chocolates for R27, 96. He used the equation
15d = 27, 96 to find the cost of one chocolate, d. The equivalent to this equation is:

A d = 27,96 – 15
B d = (27,96) (15)
C d = 27,96 + 115
27,96
D d=
15
E d = 27,96 + 15

51 A train travelling at an average speed of 53 km per hour. At this rate of speed, the
estimate time for the train to travel 279 km is:

A 4h B 5h C 8h D 11h E 13h
52 According to the box label, 8 crackers contain 3 grams of sugar. The proportion of G,
the number of grams of sugar in 20 crackers will be:

A 3 𝐺 B 8 20 C 8 𝐺 D 20 3 E 28 20
=
= = = = 3 𝐺
8 20 𝐺 3 28 3 8 𝐺

1 1
53 Lindiwe watched a movie for 24 hours, played soccer for 12 hours and washed the
3
dishes for 4 hour. The total time she spent on these tasks is:

1 3 1
A 2 h B 3 h C 4 h D 5h E 2h
2 4 2

54 The winning time in a swimming race was 0, 89 seconds faster than the second-place
time of 57, 47 seconds. The winning time was:

A 56,58 B 57,58 C 58,36 D 59,36 E 57,47

55 The group of decimals in ascending order is:

A 261,2; 261,3; 261,342; 261,4

B 261,2; 261,3; 261,4; 261,342
C 261,342; 261,4; 261,3; 261,2
D 261,4; 261,342; 261,3; 261,2
E 261,03; 261, 30; 261,33; 261,003

56 Which group of fractions is in descending order?

2 3 5 5
A 3
; 4; ;
8 6

5 2 3 5
B ; ;
8 3 4
; 6

2 3 5 5
C 3
; 4
; 6; 8

5 3 2 5
D 6
; 4; 3
; 8

2 1 3 4
E 3
; 2
; 4
; 5

57 The price of a car decrease by 25% over an 8-month period. To find the amount of
the decrease in a car originally priced at R238 000, multiply R238 000 by:

A 1 B 1 C 1 D 1 E 4
20 5 4 10 5

58 Sipho memorized 5 out of 7 songs for a music competition. What percent of the
songs did he memorize?

A 40% B 55% C 65% D 71% E 85%

59 Audrey has R5 000 in her savings account that earns 3, 75% annual interest. What is
a reasonable estimate of interest she will earn in 1 year?

A R500 B R400 C R300 D R200 E R100

60 (-2x²)³ is equivalent to:

5 6 6 5 6
A 8x B -2x C 8x D 8x E -8x

61 A book that normally sells for R35 is on sale at 25% off. The best estimate sale price
is:

A R9 B R32 C R26 D R43 E R31

62 120% of Ellie’s weight equals 75% of James’ weight. The ratio of Ellie’s weight to
James’ weight is:

A 5 B 5 C 1 D 4 E 8
8 6 5 39 13
SECTION B: ALGEBRA

1 The next number in the pattern of 9; 10; 13; 18; …. is:

A 21 B 23 C 25 D 29 E 19

2 The next term in the sequence 1; 2; 4; 7; 11; .... is:

A 12 B 14 C 16 D 18 E 21

3 If a = 2 and b = 3 then the answer of ba – 1 + ab + 1 are:

A 19 B 25 C 17 D 13 E 21

4 If 3x – 15 = 0, then x is equal to

A 2 B 3 C 4 D 5 E 6

5 The next number in the pattern 2; 3; 6; 15; 42; … is

A 111 B 123 C 135 D 148 E 162

6 The arrangement below is called Pascal’s Triangle

1 1

1 2 1

1 3 3 1

1 4 6 4 1

…………………………………………………………………………...

The sum of the numbers in the first row is 1.

The sum of the numbers in the first row is 3.
The sum of the numbers in the first 3 rows is 7, etc.
If these triangle arrangements is continued then the sum of the numbers in the first
15 rows is:
14 15 15 16 14
A 2 -1 B 2 +1 C 2 -1 D 2 +1 E 2 +1
7 Nine points lie in a plane, as shown above. If any three points are joined to form a
triangle, then the numbers of all possible triangles that can be drawn are:

• • •
• • •
• • •

A 22 B 24 C 26 D 32 E 34

8 If (x – 1)(x +2) = 0, then x is:

A -1 or 2 B 1 or -2 C 1 D -2 E 0

9 The equation (a + b)² = a² + b² is:

A False for all values of a and b

B Is true only if a = b = 0
C Is true if both a and b are equal to 1
D Is true if at least one of a or b is 0
E Is true for all values of a and b

10 Leon calculates the value of n² + n – 1 for n values from 2 up to 10. The number of
prime numbers is:

A 0 B 1 C 2 D 3 E More

11 The missing number in the following sequence is:

1
1 1
1 2 1
1 3 3 1
1 4 6 4 1
1 5 10 10 5 1
1 6 15 … 15 6 1

A 5 B 20 C 21 D 10 E 425

12 The 20th term of the sequence 5; 11; 17; … is:

A 100 B 119 C 121 D 139 E 141

13 The equation of line k is:
Y k

0 X

A x=2 B x = -2 C y=2 D y = -2 E y=x

14 Which expression is equivalent to 2x + 4 = 8?

A 2x + 4 – 4 = 8 + 4
B 2x + 2 = 4
C 6x = 8
D 2x + 4 – 4 = 8 – 4
E 2x = 2

15 (7x² + 3y) – (3x² + 5y) is equivalent to:

4 4
A 4x² - 2y B 4x -2y² C 4x² +8y D 4x +8y² E 2x²y

16 If b is a real number such that b² = b + 1. Then which of the following is NOT true?

A b³ = b² + b
4
B b = b³ + b + 1
C b³ = 2b + 1
D b³ + b² = b + 1
1
E b=
𝑏−1

17 If a + b = -3 and ab = 4, then a³ + b³ equals:

A 6 B 3 2 C 5 D −3 + 2 2 E 9
4
18 The value of m in -3(m – 2) > 12, is:

A m > -2 B m<2 C m>2 D m < -6 E m < -2

19 The gradient of the graphs defined by x – 2y + 5 = 0 , is:

1 1
A m=1 B m = -1 C m= D m=- E m = -2
2 2

5
20 The x -intercept of the graph defined by y = 2 𝑥 - 1, is:

A 0,4 B 2,5 C 1 D -1 E -0,4

SECTION C: GEOMETRY

1 ∆EFG is similar to ∆KLM. The size of 𝑀 is:

K

F
60°

E
80°

L M
G

A 40° B 60° C 70° D 80° E 30°

2 ∆ABC is a right triangle with AB = 26cm and BC = 15cm. The length of the
hypotenuse is:

A 21cm B 26cm C 30cm D 52cm E 41cm

3 The diagonal of a rectangular cardboard with a length of 40cm and a width of 30cm,
is:

A 60cm B 35cm C 50cm D 25cm E 70cm

4 A quadrilateral with one pair of opposite sides parallel is called a:

A pentagon
B triangle
C trapezium
D kite
E rectangle

5 Janet made apple sauce to fill a cylindrical jar with a radius of 5 cm and a height of 12
cm. If she makes the same amount of sauces and places it in a jar with the same
radius but half the volume, how tall should the new jar be?

A 9cm B 8cm C 7cm D 6cm E 5cm

6 The circumference of a circle with radius 2 is:

A 𝜋 B 2𝜋 C 4𝜋 D 6𝜋 E 8𝜋
7 What is the area of the parallelogram?

4m
8m

12 m

A 38m² B 42m² C 48m² D 54m² E 32m²

8 In the given regular octagon, the size x in degrees, is:

1 1 1
A 22 B 45 C 67 D 90 E 112
2 2 2

9 The area of the shaded triangle, written as a fraction of the regular hexagon is:

A 1 B 1 C 1 D 1 E 1
6 5 4 3 2

10 Rectangle ABCD has sides AB and BC in the ratio 3: 1. If the diagonal AC is 5, then the
area of the rectangle is:

A 9 B 15 C 8 D 10 E 20
2 3
11 If ABCDE is a regular pentagon and EB and AC intersect at O, then the size of angle
E𝑂C in degrees is:

E C
O

A B

A 100 B 108 C 135 D 96 E 90

12 A piece of paper is cut out and labelled as shown in the diagram. It is folded along
the dotted lines to make an open box. If the box is placed on a table so that the top
of the box is open, then the label at the bottom of the box is:

U V W

A U B V C W D X E Y

13 A beam of light shines from a point S, reflects off a reflector (mirror image) at point
P, and reaches a point T so that PT is perpendicular to RS. The value of x is:

x0
P
x0

R 26°

A 26 B 32 C 37 D 38 E 45
14 You need to travel from A to B along the lines as shown in the sketch. You may only
move downwards. The number of different paths that can be taken from A to B is:

A 9 B 10 C 11 D 12 E 13

15 Which net will not form a closed triangular prism?

A B C D E

16 The area of the shaded square (in cm²) in the diagram below is:

4cm 5cm
4cm

5m

A 20 B 36 C 41 D 61 E 81

17 A rectangle is divided in half so that two squares are formed. If each square has a
perimeter of 36 cm, then the area of the rectangle is:

A 36 B 54 C 72 D 81 E 162
18 Triangle RST is a right triangle. The length of RS is:

30 m

T
R
18 m

A 26m B 24m C 22m D 21m E 48m

19 The amount of soft drink in a glass would most likely be expressed in:

A Kiloliters
B litres
C centimetres
D millimetres
E meters

20 The Barn family plans to fence a rectangular yard that measures 32m by 56m. The
length of fencing material that they would need is:

A 88m B 176m C 1,792m D 1 900m E 1 792m

21 A closed six-sided figure is called:

A Rectangle
B Hexagon
C Octagon
D Pentagon
E Parallelogram

22 ∆XYZ is similar to ∆ABC. The length of AC is:

A X

8cm
14cm
Y 12cm
C
B

A 9cm B 10cm C 20cm D 21cm E 18cm

23 A triangle with no equal sides is called:

A a scalene triangle
B a right angle
C an isosceles triangle
D a straight triangle
E an quadrilateral triangle

24 Gabe made a box in the form of a cube with edges 50 cm long to use as a display
table. To cover it with wallpaper he will need:

A 3m² B 1,5m² C 0,25m² D 1,25m² E 6m²

25 A scale model for a car is 8 cm long. If 2 cm represents 3 meters, what is the actual
length of the car?

A 6m B 8m C 12m D 18m E 16m

SECTION D: DATA HANDLING

1 The test scores in Pinkie’s mathematics class are shown in the table. Which
represents the mean score for the class?

TEST SCORES
88 90 98 95 98
92 88 89 85 82
78 88 87 89 86
92 91 79 95 99
85 85 83 84 90

A 85 B 87 C 88,6 D 89 E 21

2 A survey was conducted in the nine grade class at Nokulunga High School. 45
students stated that they had a computer at home with e-mail access. 180 students
were surveyed. In a group of 800 nine graders, which is the best prediction of how
many have e-mail access?

A 200 B 180 C 120 D 110 E 100

3 The high temperatures for the last 5 days in January were 31°C, 32°C, 29°C, 26°C and
32°C. The median of these temperatures are:

A 30°C B 32°C C 31°C D 26°C E 31,5°C

4 A protest march goes through town from the Mall (M) to the Community Centre
(CC).
M
M E

S SS
If the march can only travel east or south, then the number of different possible
routes is:

A 6 B 10 C 4 D 8 E 9

5 A vendor has an equal arm balance and four weights she uses to weigh her fruit. The
weights are 1 kg, 2 kg, 4 kg and 8 kg. If the weights are only placed on one end of the
balance and the fruit is placed on the other end, how many different weight
combinations can she use?

A 15 B 13 C 11 D 9 E 7
6 Anne, Bongi and Carol are wearing dresses and shoes that are green, black or yellow.
No two dresses or pairs of shoes are the same colour. Anne has yellow shoes. Bongi
does not have a black dress or black shoes and only Carol has the same colour dress
and shoes. Bongi has

A a green dress and yellow shoes

B a black dress and green shoes
C a green dress and green shoes
D a green dress and black shoes
E a yellow dress and green shoes

7 A bag contains 6 blue balls, 8 yellow balls and 2 pink balls. Sipho takes balls from the
bag without looking at them. The least number of balls that he must remove in order
to ensure that he has three of the same colour is:

A 3 B 5 C 7 D 9 E 11

8 A three digit number is formed by the digits 1, 2 and 3, with no digit being repeated. The
probability that it will be an odd number is:

A 1 B 1 C 1 D 2 E 1
4 3 6 3 2

9 Renee has 6 blue, 3 orange, 2 red and 7 white marbles in a bag. The probability that when
she randomly selects a blue marble from the bag, is:

A 2 B 6 C 1 D 1 E 6
21 13 3 2

10 The number of different ways the following symbols can be arrange, is:

A 8 B 12 C 20 D 24 E 4

11 The position of a submarine changed -102 meters in 6 minutes. The average change per
minute is:

A 27m B 17m C -27m D -17m E -96m

12 Wesley has 6 green, 4 pink, 2 white and 8 blue blocks in a bag. The probability that he
randomly selects a green block from the bag, is:

A 3 B 7 C 8 D 9 E 8
10 10 10 10 20
13 The nine-grade student council surveyed the students about their favourite colour school
shirts. The graph shows the results:

Gold: 30% Blue: 10%

Black: 20% Red: 40%

If the class has 250 members, which is the best prediction of the number who prefer blue?

A 25 B 30 C 35 D 40 E 45

14 A list of the areas in km² of the principal islands of the world is given below.

Name of island Area in km²

Greenland 2 175 000
New Guinea 789 900
Borneo 751 00
Madagascar 587 041
Baffin Land 507 451
Sumatra 422 200
Honshu 230 092
Britain 229 849
Victoria 217 290
Ellesmere 196 236
Sulawesi 178 700

If intervals of 250 000 km² are used, in which interval will most of the islands fall?

A 0 ≤ 𝑥 <250 000
B 250 000 ≤ 𝑥 < 500 000
C 500 000 ≤ 𝑥 < 750 000
D 750 000 ≤ 𝑥 < 1 000 000
E 2 000 000 ≤ 𝑥 < 2 250 000

15 The following records for Javelin (in m) were recorded between the years 1963 to
1983.

59,78 69,52 69,96 70, 08 71,88 72,4 74,2 74,76

The mean (average) distance was:

A 14,98 B 70,98 C 70,3225 D 71,88 E 70,08

16 The following records for Javelin (in m) were recorded for the years 1963 to 1983.

59,78 69,52 69,96 70,08 71,88 72,4 74,2 74,76

The range of distances is:

A 14,98 B 70,98 C 70,3225 D 71,88 E 70,08

17 The results of a survey on the reasons that teens spend time as volunteers are
shown in the table below:

Reason Number of teens

To help others 47
Enjoy the work 38
Lots of free time 25
To learn 24
For a friend 20
Religion 19
Past experience 10
Other 7
Don’t know 2

Out of 576 teen volunteers, how many would you expect volunteer because they
enjoy the work?

A 38 B 95 C 538 D 114 E 192

18 The results of a survey on the reasons that teens spend time as volunteers are
shown in the table below:

Reason Number of teens

To help others 47
Enjoy the work 38
Lots of free time 25
To learn 24
For a friend 20

You need to draw a pie graph of the data. How many degrees of the circle will the
time spend for a friend take up?

A 13° B 20° C 72° D 9° E 47°

19 There are 3 blue pencils, 5 green pencils, 2 black pencils, and 6 red pencils in a
drawer. Suppose you grab one pencil at random. What will the probability be that
you will a grab a blue or a red pencil?

A 3 B 9 C 3 D 1 E 2
8 16 16 2 3

20 The bar graph shows the results of a survey to what music people listen in the car.

Percent
30
25
20
15
10
5 Percent
0

If you owned a store that specialised in car stereos, what type of music would you
have playing?

A Pop
B Classic
C Rock
D Jazz
E Country